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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. cell — a phone
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. kid — to tease
  8. sharp — clever
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. hand — in cards
  11. race — the arms race
  12. cell — in biology
  13. kid — child
  14. hand — help
  15. wake — a trail
  16. race — a contest
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. race — humankind
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. temple — a place of worship

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com